After three straight home games to start the season, Indiana women’s basketball traveled to Tallahassee, Florida, for its first road contest of the season against Florida State University.
The Hoosiers defeated the Seminoles 76-72 on Sunday at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center to move to 4-0 on the season. Redshirt sophomore guard Lenée Beaumont led Indiana in scoring with 23 points and grabbed five rebounds. Senior guard Shay Ciezki was behind her with 22 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Florida State was without its leading scorer in Solé Williams. The junior guard averaged 17.5 points per game throughout the Seminoles’ first four games, but she suffered a minor injury that kept her out of Sunday’s contest.
The Hoosiers got out to an early 7-0 lead to start the contest. A basket from Beaumont opened scoring for the Hoosiers. A missed layup from Florida State and rebound from Indiana freshman guard Nevaeh Caffey gave the Hoosiers possession once again.
They took advantage of the opportunity with a 3-point make from sophomore guard Valentyna Kadlecova. After a few missed shots and turnovers from both teams, Ciezki capped off the 7-0 run to start the game.
The Seminoles pulled within 1 point toward the end of the first quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers from junior guard Emma Risch and senior guard Sydney Bowles. However, Indiana pushed its lead to 5 points before the end of the first period with baskets from Ciezki and sophomore forward Zania Socka-Nguemen.
Florida State tied the game at 22 with just under five and a half minutes remaining in the second quarter. The Seminoles went on a 6-0 run with a layup from junior forward Avery Treadwell and two buckets from Bowles.
Beaumont drew a foul from Risch on the Hoosiers’ following possession and made both of her free throws to end the Seminoles run.
Florida State tied the contest at 29 with just over a minute and a half left in the first half. Indiana once again responded. This time with a successful 3-point play from Socka-Nguemen, which put the score at 32-29 as the second quarter came to a close.
Beaumont — who lead the Hoosiers in scoring at the half with 12 points — opened scoring in the third quarter with a layup 11 seconds into the period.
Indiana took its biggest lead of the contest after a basket from Beaumont put the Hoosiers up 42-34. However, Florida State responded with a layup from senior guard Jasmine Shavers. The layup started a 9-2 run for the Seminoles to cut the Hoosiers lead to 1 point.
Caffey picked up her fourth foul of the contest with just under three and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter. Shavers made both of her free throw attempts, which gave Florida State its first lead of the game.
The Seminoles continued to grow their lead through the remainder of the third quarter. Florida State took a 9-point advantage over Indiana with a minute and a half left in the third period. The Hoosiers trimmed the Seminoles’ lead to 56-50 by the end of the third quarter.
Indiana continued to chip into Florida State’s lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Ciezki successfully completed a 3-point play with seven minutes and 46 seconds left in the contest to tie the game at 57.
An offensive foul on the Seminoles gave the Hoosiers a chance to take the lead back, and Indiana took advantage of the opportunity. Ciezki made a layup to put the score at 59-57.
The two squads continued to go back and forth in the final quarter. However, three Hoosiers fouled out in the fourth quarter, including Ciezki, junior guard Edessa Noyan and sophomore guard Phoenix Stotijn.
Senior guard Jerni Kiaku made a layup to give the Hoosiers a 4-point lead with 15 seconds remaining in the contest. Florida State turned the ball over with nine seconds on the clock, but the Hoosiers also recorded a turnover on their next possession.
Shavers missed her 3-point attempt which would have pulled the Seminoles within 1-point, and the Hoosiers ultimately recorded a 4-point win over Florida State.
Indiana returns home for a contest against Butler University at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The game will stream on Big Ten+.
Follow reporters Savannah Slone (@savrivers06 and srslone@iu.edu) and Max Schneider (maxschn@iu.edu) and columnist Sean McAvoy (@sean_mc07 and semcavoy@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
